The Warbound
*Mercenary Force *Philanthropic Anti-Slavery Group *Guerillas |products= |hidec= |founding= |dissolved= |era= |affiliation= }} was an unusual organization formed by the former gladiator, Sabine, better known as the 'Witch of the Red Sands', to combat the expansion of the slavery industry in the Frontier territories. Mostly made up of ex-slaves and those who had lost family to slavers, the organisation recruited from a wide range of backgrounds, and in the span of only a few years, grew from a number of only a handful, to several thousand strong. The Warbound organisation was initially a simple mercenary outfit, with members coming from similar backgrounds and skill sets, but as their numbers, strength and influence grew, their aims and role changed, to become an organisation dedicated to combating slavery. History Founding The chartable history of the Warbound is murky at best, and difficult to say when exactly they began. The group wouldn't use the name until some time after their inception, but the core group formed some time during the Remnant War. Their founder, Sabine, was originally a freelance, working as the partner of her friend, Ryuko Kawada. After messing up a job, the two of them had to go into hiding, evading bounty hunters and assassins. They did this by going to ground with friends in the Tyraxus Tribe, disguising themselves as slaves. The two began to come to blows, as Ryuko failed to adapt and found herself frequently becoming bored and getting into fights. Despairing at her state of affairs, she left Sabine a note and took off, hitching from ship to ship. Feeling betrayed and abandoned by her best friend, Sabine remained behind for a few more weeks before taking their shared ship, the Asura-class Assault Shuttle Blade Flash. Heading out into space without a purpose, or goal, she wandered for a while, going from port to port. Wandering without purpose, she desperately sought out reason in a confusing and strange universe. Stopping at a Kig-Yar trading outpost, an epiphany came to her. Watching the suffering of the slaves in market, and reflecting on her own life as a slave, she vowed to help slaves anywhere she could, in anyway she could, through aggressive action. Storming off the trading outpost rather than stay any longer on it, she was about ready to leave when she discovered a pair of run-away slaves cornered by slave-catchers. Forced into a corner by a line of shock staffs, the two run-away slaves were in real danger of being dragged back. Acting with haste, she killed the slave-catchers, and brought the two runaways with her, quickly leaving the station. These slaves, a Sangheili called Aikaras, and a Kig-Yar called Jazuka, would join here, in her lofty goals. Finding Aikaras to already be a hardened warrior, and Jazuka to be a quick study, they headed across the frontier, finding work and jobs, and more members. The trio doubled in number soon enough, with Sabine's ragtag group of disparate warriors living aboard the Blade Flash. They were now joined by the strong, honourable and well disciplined Jiralhanae, Gamagorum, the competitive Sangheili sword fighter, Tul 'Samiya and a cagey human computer specialist, Harry Shepard. This small group proved to be deadly, motivated and utterly loyal to their liberator, Sabine. Mercenary Work The small group would bounce from station to station, world to world, completing mercenary contracts and jobs, here and there. They made a good name for themselves as skilled mercenaries, albeit very, very eccentric. Sabine turned them from desperate, lost slaves, in loyal and skilled soldiers, with a will to win. With each job they completed, their wealth grew as well. The team had little need for the money, simply using it to buy more weapons, keep their ship operational, and buying supplies. Most of them were unconcerned with material wealth, and instead with vengeance. Between jobs, they performed clandestine actions, finding locals related to the slave trading business, such as traders, captain of slave vessels, leaders of slave raids, and slave owners, and killed them, assassinating them through a variety of means. As they moved across the Frontier, they left a trail of corpses. Alas, assassinating those who dealt in slaves would only get them so far. Liberators The Warbound, finally beginning to use that name for themselves, found their current aims of assassinating those involved in slavery to be insubstantial. They simply removed one person who was quickly replaced. To effect the economy of slavery, they'd have to crush the industry itself, and that looked to be a distant and difficult call, up until a chance to fight back, fell straight into their laps. During their travel from system to system, they found a relatively isolated Kig-Yar colony, belonging to a smaller, lesser known clan. Originally landing with the intention of refuelling, they saw the clan's reliance of slave labour. Upon seeing the down trodden, mistreated slaves, something snapped in Sabine. Initially returning to the ship, she hastily put a plan together to liberate the imprisoned slaves. Pretending to stay on the colony over night, they instead left their ship under the cover of darkness. Sabine, Gamagurum, Jazuka and 'Samiya headed to the slave camps, to quietly eliminate the guards, while Aikaras and Shepard infiltrated the clan's flagship, an SDV-class Heavy Corvette called the Bloodied Work. The small group neutralised the guards of the slave camp, took the armoury and then began handing out guns to the slaves, promising to help them escape. While the slaves numbered many, there were more Kig-Yar on the colony, and most of the slaves had never fought before. Aikaras and Shepard made it to the ship, which lay in dry dock on the surface. Since the colony was small, they didn't have any orbital stations, or orbital elevators, forcing them to build a dry dock for it. Making it to the ship, they infiltrated it and took command of it. With only a small skeleton crew, they were able to take control of the security systems, locking the bulkheads and venting the atmosphere, killing those still left on the ship. With the ship secured, and in lockdown, they awaited the arrival of Sabine and the others. Exiting the camp close to dawn, Sabine lead them through the mostly abandoned dockyards at first, attempting to evade detection, but soon alerted a number of guards, resulting in an opening fire fight. Victorious through sheer numbers, they broke into a run to get to the dock, as more security forces converged. Taking a number of casualties, they made it to the ship, where they were covered by a blanket of flak fire from the ship. Making it aboard, they got almost three hundred slaves off the planet. Taking to the bridge, she ordered them to lift off, firing the batteries on the pursuing forces, and anything that may be a threat. They briefly bombarded the colony, then took off, breaking atmosphere, then jumping to slipspace. Jazuka went back, taking the Blade Flash, and brought it into orbit with them. The Kig-Yar colony had only a few light raider vessels, most of which were damaged in the escape, and no other means of pursuing them, forcing them to let them go. Now with a ship filled with 300 liberated slaves, she decided on something that would change the course of the Warbound. Opening an intercom to the rest of the ship, she announced her plan to take them to a neutral colony, and let them off there, so they could make their own way home. However, any that wished it, could join her, and take the fight back to those who would enslave them. The Warbound rechristened the Bloodied Works, the Spartacus, after the legendary gladiator rebel. Just over a day later, they docked at a neutral colony, and just over half the slaves left to return to their homes. They were now left with a hundred ex-slaves, eager for revenge. Sabine would happily oblige them. Growth Now with a small army to organize, Sabine began to build her army the only way she knew how, through total totalitarian leadership. Everything she learned of leadership, she learned from Jiralhanae chieftains, and everything she learned of training, she learned as a gladiator, so she applied these methods to training her army. Breaking them down through intense physical training, headed by her officers, they were remoulded to possess a strong loyalty to Sabine, a fierce fighting skill, and maintain discipline at all times. Drilled endlessly, they developed keen skills necessary for any mercenary, becoming keen shots and fierce fighters under her command. Sabine commanded them with an iron fist, not tolerating failure or defeat, and delivered harsh punishments. Her air of confidence, command ability, charisma, and presence ensured that few disobeyed her. Despite the training, they would need to be tested though, and the Warbound had few opportunities to do so. The occasional mercenary contract earned them funding and fame, it didn't bring them close to their goal. Instead, they would need a target. Sabine knew the perfect target. At this point, their armouries was were not well stocked, mostly with recovered Covenant weapons, a few dropships and Ghosts, and their single ship, the Spartacus. Making an Example In her years as a slave, her master often made deals with a Kig-Yar privateer called Chal V'Rok. A loathsome creature, his speciality was dealing in sentients. He wouldn't sully his hands with picking them up directly, but instead bought them from slavers in the frontier territories then brought them back to the Jiralhanae or Kig-Yar core systems to sell. He became the target of the Warbound. Sending out feelers in an attempt to find him, their informants finally tracked him to a trade near in the Kig-Yar enclave in the frontier. Shadowing him to slipspace, the Spartacus encroached slowly on his vessel. A larger transport vessel, it was well armed and defended against attack. This meant a direct assault was ill advised. Instead, they shadowed it to its destination, Chal V'Rok's private base, a small settlement on a harsh desert world. Almost devoid of life and water, any slave that escaped his fort would surely die in the endless deserts. As his ship went to the orbital elevator to dock, the Warbound took to the other side of the planet, and travelled in low orbit towards his fort, using a colossal sand storm as cover. Less than twenty kilometres from their target, they made themselves known, hitting the base with precision strikes from the Spartacus, and then launching a wave of Banshees to suppress their enemy. The Warbound stormed in, landing Phantoms in the compound, and breached the outer wall with their single Wraith tank. The defenders, confused and disorientated, initially though they were under attack from within, and although they tried to rally themselves, it was to no avail. The Warbound were ferocious, pressing constantly on them, allowing them no time to regroup. Chal attempted to flee to the orbital elevator, to escape back to the safety of his ship, but was cut off by Sabine, dropping in from her personal dropship. Tearing into his body guards in a whirlwind of violence and vengeance, it when the dust settled, Sabine was victorious, with her boot to Chal's throat. Cleaning up, the Warbound took control of the compound, then his ship and mopped up, Any guards that surrendered were summarily executed, and the slaves liberated. The Warbound looted anything that wasn't bolted down, taking weapons, armour, vehicles, anything of use. Once again, the freed slaves were given the choice of being taken to a neutral port, or joining the Warbound and taking the fight back to the slavers. Chal, taken captive by Sabine, was dragged onto his ship, lashed to the captains chair and had his throat slashed. Leaving the message 'The fate of all slavers' written on his bridge, the Warbound set his ship on an automated jump to a major Jiralhanae starport, as a warning. Razing his fortress, the Warbound left the system quickly. It was as if they were never there at all. The actions of the Warbound lit a fire under many powerful slavers, who assumed some force was gunning for them, and many began to privately investigate the occurrence. The Republic, who had been hunting Chal V'Rok, were interested in the nature of his sudden demise, and began searching for those responsible. Patrolling the Neutral Territories Slave raids were rife amongst the independent Human, Kig-Yar and Sangheili colonies stretched along the neutral territories, and this is where the Warbound would hone their skills. Visiting major settlements, they'd trade some of the technical goods they looted, that they couldn't use themselves, like water filters, long distance communicators, agricultural tools, for food and information, in an effort to track, stalk and eventually terminate raiders in the region. In this manner, they pursued, attacked and destroyed at least five different Kig-Yar Raider vessels, using the superior firepower of the Spartacus to knock the ships out at close range, and finish off any raiders on the ground. Every colony they helped, they simply asked for food as repayment, and at every world a few brave souls even joined them, bolstering their numbers. Soon the Spartacus became cramped, and they needed room to expand. When they came to the aid of the colony world of Tolmay, they found a group of Jiralhanae slavers had landed a SDV-class on the surface, and were in the process of rounding up the colonists. Descending suddenly and without warning, the Warbound launched a blistering drop pod attack, followed by Banshees and dropships. The slavers never knew what hit them, as the Warbound dropped in in the midst of their ranks. Quickly flushing them from the colony, they chased them back onto their own ship. The Warbound butchered the slavers, liberated the colony and even seized a warship. THe colonists, caught in the middle of these, were awestruck by the mysterious warriors descending on their world, and even more amazed when all they asked for was payment in food and supplies. In a few months, the Warbound had almost doubled in size, and Sabine's aims became loftier. Aims Members *Officers **Sabine: Born Sabine Krueger, but well known as the Witch of the Red Sands, Sabine is the undisputed leader of the Warbound, and rules it with an iron fist. Learning everything she knows about leadership at the feet of a Jiralhanae Chieftain, she leads the Warbound like one, barking orders and maintain an air of authority and superiority. Possessed of a surprising ability for stirring oration, and and unbending resolve, her will has shaped the Warbound into a force of her own making. **Aikaras 'Tyron: The closest the Warbound has to a second in command, Aikaras is flamboyant and often appears unfocused, or even lackadaisical. Despite this, he has extreme focus, and when it is required can become extremely direct. Very intelligent, and skilled in battle, he was formerly a Covenant slave, until 'rescued' by marauders from the Kig-Yar Union, and pressed into slavery with them. Escaping, he was left destitute until picked up by Sabine. **Jazuka N'Nok: Fiercely loyal to Sabine, she's less so to her fellow Warbound, often deriding them. Possessing an acerbic wit and an air of haughty derision, she's more often seen leading her squadron in battle. Jazuka was once the daughter of a clan leader, taken during inter-clan conflicts and made a lowly slave, forced to work in a deep mine. Going from a life of opulence to that miserable existence failed to break her, and instead forged a strong will in her. **Gamagorum: A huge specimen, Gamagorum is big, even for a Jiralhanae. Loyal, almost to the point of what is unreasonable, and possessing a strong sense of personal honour, Gamagorum is utterly dedicated to Sabine and her goals. A disciplinarian, he's responsible for much of the training of new recruits, and instils in them virtues of discipline and loyalty. He's also extremely protective of his fellow Warbound, often going out of his way to save them in battle. Gamagorum was sold out by his fellow pack members, and made a labour slave on a Kig-Yar world, having to do the work of farming machines and pack animals. Liberated by Sabine, he's followed her ever since. **Tul 'Samiya: A swordsman of some renown, he left Sanghelios to hone his skill and was attracted by an offer of well paid bodyguard work, but was instead tricked into becoming a gladiator. Trapped in an endless cycle of bloodshed, Sabine freed him, and he joined her willingly, following her into battle. While he appears cocky, and confident in his own skills, he possesses unbelievable drive and conviction in times of war. Both his eyes are cybernetic, having lost his originals as a gladiator in the arena. **Harry Shepard: *Members *Associates Equipment The Warbound use a wide range of gear, some of it bought, some of it salvaged, and some of it donated by individuals, colonies and organization interested in their continued activities. Most of their armament is lightly modified in some way or another, and all show the Warbound's tell tale markings of white and blue. Weaponry *Plasma Pistol: The standard sidearm of the Warbound, the plasma pistol is plentiful, robust and reliable, used by vehicle and weapon crews, and as a backup for snipers. *Plasma Rifle: A widespread and versatile weapon, its small but lethal, and possesses a high rate of fire. *Plasma Repeater: Slightly rare than its smaller cousin, it makes up for its increased accuracy and improved cooling systems. *Storm Rifle: Provided by their benefactors in the Republic, the Storm Rifle is a true assault rifle. Designed and built in secret, these rifles are the Imperator's gift to those who fight for their freedom. Covertly delivered to the Warbound, these rifles are seen as a gift with which freedom may be earned. They feature a shorter barrel, and a more robust stock, ideal for close-quarters battles that often come with Warbound raids. It also matches this with an increased rate of fire, at the cost of increased heat generation. *Needler: Technically a pistol/carbine sized weapon, it fires unique munitions that self guide towards their intended target and explode shortly after impact. The are supplied directly from the Sangheili homeworld. *Needler Shotgun: A rare example of needler weaponry, straight out of the foundries of Sanghelios, it fires a spread of exploding shards that shred targets ahead of it. *Carbine: A accurate weapon, firing 8.7mm caseless rounds, it is often used by marksmen to provide cover at range. *Needle Rifle: An older weapon, it fires exploding, crystalline shards at high velocity, with high accuracy. Its used to eliminate targets at long range. *Particle Beam Rifle: An older issue of beam rifle, its accurate and lethal, but suffers from cooling issues. *Focus Rifle: A more unusual sniper weapon, it fires a continuous beam of plasma that cuts through armour, flesh and bone, and is often used to disable enemy materiel or detonate unexploded ordnance. *Fuel Rod Rifle: A rare weapon, with a few examples bought from the Republic, it is a long barrelled rifle that fires explosive bolts of liquid plasma. Its the preferred means of taking down armour or heavy infantry at long range. *Concussion Rifle: A heavy weapon firing grenade-like plasma bolts, the Concussion Rifle is often used by officers of the Warbound. *Plasma Cannon: A heavy weapon, usually mounted on dropships and tanks, it is too heavy to use effectively in the field without a mount. Its often used by heavy weapon specialists to hold strong points. *Fuel Rod Gun: A heavy weapon designed to take on enemy armour, its given to heavy weapon specialists to knock out armour, though it is also effective against structures and groups of infantry. *Plasma Launcher: An advanced weapon, that's somewhat rarely seen, the plasma launcher charges, fires and guides up to four orbs of plasma for engaging armour or air vehicles. *Plasma Grenade: A standard issue grenade, the plasma grenade is effective against infantry and armour and adheres to its target using electrostatic attraction. *Fusion Grenade: An exotic grenade, rather than violently detonating its plasma payload, it instead uses it to kick-start a micro-fusion reaction, creating a wide area detonation that melts or burns anything in it's radius. *Electricity Grenade: A grenade using technology from the plasma grenade, it can also stick to its target, but instead of exploding, it unleashes a high-power electric discharge, stunning its victim into unconsciousness. *Anti Matter Charge: A larger explosive device, it uses a small amount of anti-matter held in a contactless vacuum to generate a high-yield explosion, shredding its target. Vehicles *Type-31 Seraph: A fast, agile and powerful star-fighter, the Seraph is often used to escort and protect the warships of the Warbound. While incapable of engaging warships directly, it is deadly as a escort, and even as a ground attack craft. Some examples have been upgraded to the F-31C Seraph, using disassembled components provided by benefactors in the Republic, which allows it to attack enemy starships. *F/I-101 Tengu: A next-generation fighter, the Tengu is the Republic's darling, being a truly lethal fighter. With advanced avionics, improved agility and armour, and heavier armament, it out-classes the older Seraph. Provided to the Warbound by the Republic, these Tengu fighters have some of the more sensitive technology replaced for more standardised systems found on the Seraph. Despite this, it is still a lethal fighter, often awarded to the elite. *Banshee GSA: The do-all support craft, it is used in atmosphere to attack enemy targets. Fast and agile, it can switch from strafing runs on armour and infantry to hunting aircraft with little to no fuss. *Type-44 Phantom: An older model of Phantom, it is fast, agile and deadly and can carry armour and infantry. The preferred vehicle for assaults, it has numerous weapons capable of lending fire support, letting it double as a gunship. A single Phantom has been modified with more communications equipment to act as a command ship to coordinate the troops. This is often used by Sabine as her personal transport to the surface, and more than once she's commanded it to fly into the heat of battle so she can leap into the fray. *Type-25 Spirit: A robust, if unusual dropship, it is heavily armoured, but ill-prepared for fire support. It is slightly more plentiful than the Phantom, but is usually used for support. *Asura-class Assault Shuttle: Refitted civilian vessels, designed for short-ranged combat missions, the Asura mixes the agility of a fighter, the utility of a civilian vessel and the range of a starship. A number of these are used to provide short-ranged support, launch missions, transfer personnel or run cargo. *Type-58 Wraith Light Assault Gun Carriage: The Wraith is a resilient tank, using a short ranged plasma mortar that is effective against armour, infantry and structures. Preferred for leading the charge on fortified slavers, the tank is hardy, but few in numbers, meaning each is precious and its deployment is rare. These have been provided by beneficiaries in the Republic, being mostly from older stock, or repaired vehicles. *Type-58 Wraith Anti-Aircraft Artillery: Even rarer than the Wraith in the Warbound's inventories, most have been built from damaged vehicles, recovered and repaired, with some examples using damaged Wraith bodies to mount the functional guns from a AAA Wraith, and vice versa. These are used to protect the Warbound from enemy air-attack during ground engagements, but also double as deadly anti-infantry vehicles, being capable of turning enemy infantry formations to mush. *Type-23 Shadow Troop Transport: A commonly used transport vehicle, it is lightly armoured and lightly armed, and used to ferry infantry, light vehicles and materiel behind, in friendly territory, as it is poorly designed for frontline combat. *Type-32 Ghost Rapid Assault Vehicle: An all purpose vehicle, it serves as a scout and fast attack vehicle, and is rugged and as simple as possible. The Warbound use it to flank their armour, scout the enemy and launch rapid raids, disappearing as quickly as they appeared. *Type-46 Spectre Infantry Support Vehicle: A small and nimble vehicle, it is used to quickly ferry small teams into battle and lay down support. Poorly armoured, its main defence is speed and agility. Capable of carrying several passengers, it can cover them with a hail of fire from its rapid fire plasma cannon. *Type-48 Revenant Light Assault Gun Carriage: Bought in small numbers directly from the Markets of Quikost, the Revenant is used to provide much needed rapid support, lending artillery strikes to their rapid formations. Well treated, their drivers often treat them as their own personal chariots, customising their appearance. *Type-25 Chopper Rapid Assault Vehicle: Every Chopper used by the Warbound has been captured in battle, usually as a badge of honour by the Warbound who captured it. Refurbished, they're brought back into combat against their former owners, but are preferred to be kept back, supporting other vehicles, or launching quick raids. They swap the autocannons for twin plasma cannons. *Type-52 Prowler Infantry Support Vehicle: Like the Chopper, most examples of these have been captured and repaired after battles, though a few have been provided by the Tyraxan allies of the Warbound. Not as nimble as the Spectre, it sports better armour, allowing it to burst through enemy lines. It's outer shell has been extensively modified, making it more sleek, and protective. *Type-77 Ripper Infantry Support Vehicle: A rare vehicle, manufactured only by the Tyraxans, and sold in limited amounts to the Warbound, it is used for scouting and rapid attack. Similar in design to the Prowler, it is squat, well armoured, but surprisingly fast and agile, with internal room for five passengers, and two more on the rear skid, along with a plasma cannon capable of wrecking light armour. In rare occasions, it is pushed into the role of IFV, accompanying Wraiths into battle to provide infantry support. A single Ripper has been modified to remove the gun and the crew cabin, and instead has a rear flat bed. This is used by Sabine as her personal transport into battle, being able to be seen be her subordinates, which strengthens their morale more than any other factor. *Autarch-class Assault Mech: Based on designs furnished from Republic and UNSC designs leaked onto the net, the Autarch is a manned mechanised assault unit. Piloted by the user's motions, the suit is heavily armoured, and carries a Plasma Cannon for shredding enemy units. It also mounts a pair of modified Fuel Rod Cannons, mounted on twin turrets that tracks the user's head motions, firing on the pilot's target. It is shielded, and well armoured, and supremely agile. Ships *''Spartacus'': Originally called the Bloodied Work, the Spartacus was a SDV-class Corvette captured by the Warbound from slavers. Their first real starship, and for some time their base of operations, and their home. Bearing the scars of numerous battles, as well as the Warbound's own markings, the Spartacus remained in their small fleet even after their took a larger capital ship. *''Erinyes'': SDV-class Corvette *''Krautaka'': SDV-class Corvette *''Liberator'': RPV-class Destroyer *''Venator'': CCS-class Battlecruiser *''Gladiator'': CPV-class Heavy Destroyer *''Chain Breaker'': Forge Ship *''Retribution'': CAS-class Assault Carrier Uniform and Armour *Freedom-class Combat Armour: A standard combat armour with the Warbound, it features a standardised design, and key features found on many similar patterns of armour. The armour is lightweight and well rounded, with a breastplate, pauldrons, and graves, made from nano-laminate, and an underarmour made from toughened material. It has an encompassing helmet, with short-ranged nightvision, an encrypted radio communication system, and an Identify Friend-Foe system for operations. The armour can be used in a number of environments, and in conjunction with a pressure suit it can also be used in vacuum operations. *Maroon-class Infiltrator Armour: Built for Warbound scouts, skirmishers, assassins, and snipers, the Maroon armour is designed for absolute stealth. Using a body suit, and minimal armour, it is made to be quick moving, and lightweight, while the inbuilt stealth systems allow it to evade sensors. It also uses an active camouflage system to evade detection. It is fitted with high power optics that allow for it to see, even in total darkness, and is usually teamed with a camouflage cloak, and has surprisingly robust environmental systems, allowing it to survive in hostile environments. *Liberator-class Powered Assault Armour: A heavy duty power armour, it uses Covenant synthetic musculature technology, which gives it improved strength. This strength is leveraged to make the user faster and stronger, and to carry heavy armour. Clad in a heavy, encompassing suit, and with a sophisticated life support system to protect the user from the rigours of deep space and from hostile environments, the Liberator-class PAA is a go anywhere, do anything suit. Used only by the elite First Strike Force, the Liberator is a symbol of doom for many would-be slavers. While not a match for MJOLNIR in any category, it does not require augmentation, or length acclimatisation, only specialist training. Training Funding